Tabsir

Threats to the ‘Arab Spring’ Growing by the Day

Threats to the ‘Arab Spring’ Growing by the Day

DANIEL M. VARISCO: Where there was once optimism of fundamental change taking hold as a spirit of freedom swept the region, there is now growing pessimism.

 Crossroads Arabia

Censorship Begins at Home – Politics & Table Manners

Censorship Begins at Home – Politics & Table Manners

CROSSROADS ARABIA: To argue is to disrespect. To disrespect is to threaten the social order. It’s a pity, though, Saudis feel the need to watch what they say.

 Juan Cole

Top Five Arab Spring Developments This Week

Top Five Arab Spring Developments This Week

JUAN COLE: It’s been a busy few days throughout the Arab World with existing and former dictators finding the going is getting tougher.

 Tabsir

‘Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls, Ali Abdullah Salih’

‘Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls, Ali Abdullah Salih’

TABSIR: It looks like Yemen’s President has finally reached the end of the road but he’s giving new definition to the phrase ‘clinging to power’.

 Khaled Akbik

Syria: Fear Versus Hope on a Knife Edge

Syria: Fear Versus Hope on a Knife Edge

KHALED AKBIK: The notion that stability and security only comes if oppression is practiced is a notion I deeply disagree with.

 Sultan Al Qassemi

GCC: Muslim Brotherhood Fears Over Arab Spring

GCC: Muslim Brotherhood Fears Over Arab Spring

SULTAN AL QASSEMI: UAE national observers commented in private that many names on the UAE petition calling for an elected parliament were UAE members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

 James M. Dorsey

Arab Leaders Losing Battle to Control the News

Arab Leaders Losing Battle to Control the News

JAMES M. DORSEY: Embattled regimes have failed in their effort to choke off independent reporting to ensure that their version of events dominates the news.

 Mondoweiss

Dangerous Bloodlust Bin Laden Has Unleashed

Dangerous Bloodlust Bin Laden Has Unleashed

BRIAN VAN SLYKE, MONDOWEISS: Far from drawing the curtain on the ‘War on Terror’ the assassination of bin Laden has given it a boost.

 American Bedu

How do you Accurately Define a Muslim?

How do you Accurately Define a Muslim?

AMERICAN BEDU: It’s a topic that seems, more often than not, to generate more heat than light but here’s my attempt to define a Muslim.

 Common Ground News Service

Of the People, By The People, For the People

Of the People, By The People, For the People

MAHMOUD AMIN HISHMEH, CGNEWS: For too long Arabs have listened to the views of outsiders on what a ‘new Middle East’ should look like. Now they’re creating it for themselves.

 Juan Cole

Top Ten Arab Spring Advances this Week

Top Ten Arab Spring Advances this Week

JUAN COLE: The Arab Spring is still producing some positive reforms and questioning of past corrupt practices, and even major governmental change.

 Common Ground News Service

The #1 Victim of Al Qaeda Attacks? Muslims

The #1 Victim of Al Qaeda Attacks? Muslims

HUSSEIN ABDALLAH, GGNEWS: Al Qaeda’s strategy of violence has made them less and less relevant to the people effecting change throughout the Arab world.

 Juan Cole

“We Will not Be Silent”: Yemeni Women Respond

“We Will not Be Silent”: Yemeni Women Respond

JUAN COLE: Women have played a prominent role in the demonstrations in Yemen. Too prominent a role, according to the country’s President. He’d like them to stay at home. They have responded: ‘No’.

 Steve Royston

KSA, UK Immigration: Different Directions

KSA, UK Immigration: Different Directions

STEVE ROYSTON: Add to the mix pressure on borders from poorer neighbouring countries, and you can predict immigration will be on the agenda for years.

 Allan Biggar

Social Media: Are Brands Getting the Revolution?

Social Media: Are Brands Getting the Revolution?

ALLAN BIGGAR: The path is now open for a consumer revolution where a new generation will be more influenced by their social-network contacts than by traditional marketing messages.

 Mishaal Al Gergawi

How the GCC Should Go About ‘Containing’ Iran

How the GCC Should Go About ‘Containing’ Iran

MISHAAL AL GERGAWI: Bahrain was clearly a red line for the GCC, but the challenges now facing the organisation require deft political skill.

 Mishaal Al Gergawi

A Call to the GCC: ‘Together You Can Save Yemen’

A Call to the GCC: ‘Together You Can Save Yemen’

MISHAAL AL GERGAWI: Yemen’s problems could be solved, in part, by the GCC coming together with member countries taking what they are best at, and imparting know-how to the Gulf’s poorest country.

 Omar al-Issawi

Syria: Carrots on the End of a Very Long Stick

Syria: Carrots on the End of a Very Long Stick

OMAR AL-ISSAWI: It’s a ‘plot’, ‘foreign elements’ are at work, the word ‘conspiracy’ is never far from the lips of Syria’s official spokespeople. We’ve heard it all before – from Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 Mishaal Al Gergawi

Syria’s Fork of a Future, Where it Could Take Us

Syria’s Fork of a Future, Where it Could Take Us

MISHAAL AL GERGAWI: Should a new Syrian government have a more hedged policy towards Iran, Turkey, GCC, US and Europe, Iran would be dealt a blow.

 Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

Laughter: Is it Really the Best Medicine?

Laughter: Is it Really the Best Medicine?

SHELINA ZAHRA JANMOHAMMED: Dictators are particularly sensitive to the corrosive effects of humour. They’ve always taken it very seriously indeed…